Delpharm Montréal's HR Director Karine Perron on balancing global roots with local culture

Viewed through a human resources lens, French pharmaceutical company Delpharm’s first foray into the North American market represents a unique challenge of global expansion and regional adaptation.

Karine Perron, Canada Human Resources Director of Delpharm, has been at the forefront, tackling the particular challenges this dynamic presents; the Canadian acquisitions brings Delpharm’s headcount to around 6,500.

In addition to navigating three distinct cultures, Perron also contends with the legal complexities that come with such a move.

“With both Canadian sites being owned by a French corporation, it keeps things very interesting,” Perron says Delpharm.

“The challenge is really to try to align both sides – in equity policy, culture, to align and respect the culture of each one, and align this also with the French policies, the French way of doing things, which is different.”

To make things even more “interesting,” Perron notes, the two Quebec sites – the Boucherville site was added in 2022 – were acquired from two different organizations, so each comes with a unique history and distinct workplace cultures, all which must be taken into account when implementing new processes and systems.

Early lessons: a foundation for leadership

Perron has played a key role in navigating these complexities, attributing much of her leadership philosophy to the unique experiences she gained starting out in her career, when early promotions into leadership saw her working directly with senior management.

With a degree in industrial relations, Perron’s journey has taken her through several HR leadership roles in industrial organizations such as Execaire, Provencher Roy and most recently Canadian Helicopters Limited. She shares that these experiences provided her with invaluable insights into leadership and organizational dynamics.

Perron shares that these experiences provided her with invaluable insights into leadership and organizational dynamics.

“Early in my career, I had the chance to deal right away with upper management, C-level management, and that's amazing when you have a voice … you're like 20-something, and you're sitting in a room with other directors, they have much more experience than you, so you have the opportunity to learn the way it works,” she says.

“You don't learn this in any management books or HR books, you're going to learn it in the field, right? So earlier is better.”

These early experiences, including training seasoned pilots on the ground while learning the ropes as an HR business partner at an aviation company, reinforced her belief in the value of hands-on exposure as a critical component of professional growth.

“If you position yourself as a learner, and you are willing to surf on this experience … it's an amazing opportunity to grow into that,” Perron says, adding that the tendency to jump into leadership roles increases the chance of failure; however, “you need to take the chance, to step back, to rebound … and learn from it, and developing from it – when you have those chances early on, well, that's opportunities.”

Developing talent through psychometric tools

One of Perron’s top priorities is employee development, a focus shared by Delpharm as a whole – as seen with the Delpharm Academy, founded in 2021, which supports new employees with professional development opportunities and helps them build technical expertise.

Delpharm has also used psychometric testing as a tool for development. Perron sees this as a cornerstone of the company’s approach to succession planning and skill development; she highlights its effectiveness in identifying employee strengths, areas for improvement, and potential role alignments.

“[It’s about] what the person likes to do, what she's good at, what she's less interested to do,” Perron says, “identifying the gap, and what's the environment where the person is going to perform the most?”

By focusing on aligning employees’ skills and interests with their roles, Delpharm creates opportunities for both individual and organizational growth. Perron stresses that the key to employee success isn’t only about skills but also about ensuring they have the energy and passion to thrive – factors she believes psychometric testing can single out.

But psychometric testing and strategic planning aren’t just about hiring the right person, Perron stresses – it’s about anticipating challenges and equipping employees to succeed. While Delpharm uses these tools selectively, Perron underscores their potential to improve long-term employee outcomes.

She points out how forethought can mitigate common missteps in promotions and role assignments.

“Usually you promote somebody, and six months later, you see that [they’re] not the best project manager … for many reasons that you could have foreseen in advance,” she says.

“So you can give the coaching, the tools, for the person to be better and not fall in that gap.”

Rethinking hiring and hybrid work after the pandemic

For Perron, the pandemic brought new challenges and lessons in managing a workforce and recruiting talent. While Delpharm Montréal has adapted with new remote policies – such as a two-day work-from-home allowance for eligible employees – Perron still believes in the importance of in-person interactions, especially for fostering collaboration and effective hiring practices.

“I think people need people,” she says. “Let’s never forget that humans need humans, to interact with humans, to stay mobilized and motivated.”

This belief has reshaped how Delpharm approaches recruiting. During the pandemic, interviews and hiring were conducted entirely online, often without candidates visiting the site. This led to mismatches that could have been avoided with in-person evaluations.

“We were hiring way too fast,” says Perron. “Now, if you want to work here, you’re going to have to come, twice. First, you’re going to come for a regular interview, and then you’re going to come back for a second visit, and just spending time with us.”

Although this approach has slowed the recruitment process, Perron firmly believes it ensures better outcomes.

“Do you prefer to slow down the process and be sure of the right match? That’s going to pay off down the road.”

She does, however, believe that flexibility is the new normal, and does not plan to bring employees back 100 percent to the office.

“To me, it's finding the balance between coming in the office, having those interactions with people, with humans, and then having deep work sessions at home, where you need to really focus on something, and then you can plan it,” she says.

“We're not in the 1980s. Trust – and having employee flexibilities – it's important.”